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Chapter 28 - Birth Injury: Legal Commentary IV

from Part IV - SPECIAL ISSUES

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2010

John Patrick O'Grady ,
Martin L. Gimovsky ,
Lucy A. Bayer-Zwirello  and
Kevin Giordano
John Patrick O'Grady
Affiliation:
Tufts University, Massachusetts
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Summary

The patient condition that results in the most malpractice cases against physicians is pregnancy, with the largest number of claims brought on behalf of the birth-injured infant. The fetal heart monitoring strips are analyzed and reanalyzed by the minute, with the hindsight that the baby's condition at birth was compromised. Histologic examination of the placenta and cord can provide valuable insight in explaining abnormal neonatal outcomes. Placental villous abnormalities, identification of infarcts, and the presence of nucleated red blood cells in fetal vessels, among other findings, can assist in establishing the onset of an injury. Simulations have become progressively more important components in educational systems. The legality and regulation of direct-entry midwifery varies from state to state. The use of midwives in attending the labor and delivery of mothers who are at low risk for obstetric complications has been shown to be a cost-effective, safe alternative to delivery by physicians.

Keywords

birth injuryfetal heart monitoringmedicolegal educationplacental villous abnormalitiesobstetric complicationsnurse midwifery
Type
Chapter
Information
Operative Obstetrics , pp. 831 - 842
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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